9th Grade Development Guide

9th Grade Development Guide

What’s Going on with My 9th Grader?

The 9th grade year signals the beginning of the high school experience and the last stage of the adolescent journey. This is a look into the world of your 9th grader.

Physical Development

•         There is a heightened sensitivity to appearance and its social value.

•         Boys and girls have a propensity to diet.

•         Upper body strength begins to develop in boys.

•         Boys and girls level out in height.

•         Girls have fully developed physically into their adult bodies.

•         Boys have more of a growth spurt to continue.

•         Sexual desire is awakened, and the temptation to be sexually active is common.

•         They have a need to develop exercise routines and healthy habits.

Emotional Development

The 9th grader may:

•         Have a desire for more control over aspects of their life

•         Have a more evident “adult” personality

•         Have an idealistic viewpoint of the world at large

•         Love to try new things in an effort to discover identity

•         Obtain a strong sense of accomplishment from being involved in various activities

•         Be easily “bored”

•         Exhibit impulsive behavior with friends and peers

•         Not respond to adult lectures, feeling they know better what is going on than the adult does

•         Become better at setting and achieving goals

Relational Development

•         Less time may be spent with family, while more time may be spent with peers.

•         Competition with outside groups is preferred over competition with friends.

•         Relationships with parents become focused on negotiations to get what they want.

•         There is a strong desire for conformity with peers.

•         Girls have a tendency to be interested in older boys.

•         Popular peers, adults, and celebrities are strong influences.

Spiritual Development

•         Their capacity for self-discipline increases.

•         Summer camps and mission experiences influence them spiritually because of the peer connections that those events create.

•         They begin to imagine what life would be like as an adult away from their parents, and they begin deciding whether or not their faith will be a part of that.

•         The ability to fully process abstract thoughts gives them the ability to engage God personally.

•         Rather than being told what to believe, they need spiritual leaders to ask their opinions and let them develop their beliefs.

•         Their interest and commitment to faith change rapidly back and forth, signaling an internal struggle on whether or not to accept it.

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